'Comtesse D'Egmont Pignatelli'

Opening Saturday: The acquisition in 2006 of a portrait of 18th-century French beauty Septimanie du Plessis de Richelieu (1740-73) has inspired the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to call in a lot of very high-profile chips. Ms. Septimanie's dad, the Duc de Richelieu, was a confidant of King Louis XV, and her husband, the Comte d'Egmont, a top-tier aristocrat. Which means she knew everybody, danced at the grandest soirees, and soon enhanced her beauty with a reputation for style and charm. Her portrait by court painter Alexander Roslin is the centerpiece of a choice little show that includes a terra-cotta bust of the countess by Jean Baptiste Lemoyne and eight more paintings on loan from national museums in Stockholm, London, Edinburgh and Versailles, France, including Francois Boucher's "Portrait of Madame de Pompadour," and Roslin's portrait of a Swedish king, "Gustav III and His Brother." The show even includes a writing case she gave to Gustav. Grand style, indeed. (Through Nov. 30, free. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Av. S. 612-870-3131 or Artsmia.org.)